2026 INDYCAR Odds: How to bet the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Fans and bettors are getting in on the action as INDYCAR heads to the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, which airs Sunday, March 1 (noon ET on FOX).

Winner, place and show are a few of the most popular ways that fans can wager on the race. 

Winner: Bet placed on driver to get into victory lane first
Place: Bet placed on drivers to come in first or second
Show: Bet placed on drivers to finish in the top three

This first race of the season is a 1.8-mile street course. In 2025, the eventual season champion, Alex Palou, got into Winner's Circle at St. Pete. But can he lead the field again and cross the finish line first?

Here are the latest odds at DraftKings Sportsbook as of Feb. 26, with insight from Bob Pockrass.

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2026 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Odds

The Favorites 

The six drivers below each have odds to win that are 10 to 1 or better, with three of them being 6 to 1 or better as shown below. Betting on any of these drivers to win won't result in a huge payout, but your chances of losing significantly decreases.

Alex Palou: 3/1 (bet $10 to win $40 total)
Kyle Kirkwood: 9/2 (bet $10 to win $55 total)
Josef Newgarden: 6/1 (bet $10 to win $70 total)
Scott McLaughlin: 13/2 (bet $10 to win $75 total)
Pato O'Ward: 13/2 (bet $10 to win $75 total)
Scott Dixon: 10/1 (bet $10 to win $110 total)

The Dark Horses

The six drivers below can be considered dark horses, or rather drivers who might win unexpectedly. They each have odds to win ranging between 11 to 1 and 22 to 1. This means a significant payday could be in store for bettors who correctly wager on them.

Christian Lundgaard: 12/1 (bet $10 to win $120 total)
Will Power: 16/1 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Marcus Ericsson: 20/1 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Marcus Armstrong: 20/1 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Felix Rosenqvist: 20/1 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
David Malukas: 22/1 (bet $10 to win $230 total)

The Longshots

The 13 drivers below are longshots to win, meaning it's unlikely any of them will get into Winner's Circle. But the tradeoff? Each of them has odds between 30 to 1 and 200 to 1, which means you'd be in store for a massive payday if you successfully wager on them.

Romain Grosjean: 40/1 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Rinus Veekay: 40/1 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Alexander Rossi: 40/1 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Graham Rahal: 60/1 (bet $10 to win $610 total)
Santino Ferrucci: 70/1 (bet $10 to win $710 total)
Mick Schumacher: 70/1 (bet $10 to win $710 total)
Louis Foster: 70/1 (bet $10 to win $710 total)
Nolan Siegel: 80/1 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Kyffin Simpson: 100/1 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Dennis Hauger: 100/1 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Christian Rasmussen: 100/1 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Sting Ray Robb: 200/1 (bet $10 to win $2,010 total)
Caio Collet: 200/1 (bet $10 to win $2,010 total)

Here's insight from Bob Pockrass:

Win
Kyle Kirkwood 

Alex Palou would be the easy choice here as the defending winner, but Kyle Kirkwood won two of the four races on street courses last year, so he has just as good a chance to win this race as Palou. 

Place
Alex Palou

Palou finished first or second in 12 of the 17 INDYCAR races last year (he won eight of them). So if he’s not the pick to win, he’s certainly the pick here.

Show
Scott Dixon

Dixon arguably should have won this race a year ago but didn’t pit at the right time because of troubles hearing his team. He is one of two drivers to have two top-three finishes in the last three years at St. Pete. Pato O’Ward is the other.